The celebratory exhibitions at Smallhythe Place

Smallhythe Place is celebrating the voices and work of the women of Smallhythe, actress Ellen Terry and her daughter Edy Craig in the suffrage movement with our new exhibition and displays open from 5 April 2018.

Edy Craig: Women, Suffrage and the Theatre

This exhibition explores Edy’s involvement in the suffrage movement and her approach to its politics through the art of drama and entertainment. On display in the Barn Theatre and green room (previously closed to the public), this collection will exhibit suffrage memorabilia, photos and original playscripts which are in the collection here at Smallhythe. These reveal how Edy, a founding member of the Actresses Franchise League, used theatre as a political tool to reach out to women of all social classes.

The exhibition will particularly illustrate how Edy approached the challenge of producing 'A Pageant of Great Women', and demonstrate how theatre has been used as a political device throughout the 20th Century and into the 21st.

In addition, a short film will be on show in the Barn Theatre throughout the day. Created from a selection of still and moving images of the time, this will illustrate Edy’s involvement with the suffrage cause.

The Shakespearean Lectures of Ellen Terry

TheShakespearean Lectures of Ellen Terry will be on display in the main house, using her original notes and annotations. These demonstrate this liberated Victorian woman’s attitude to feminism and suffrage, as well as on the determined and powerful women created by Shakespeare.

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As 2018 marks one hundred years since the Representation of the People's Act, The Barn Theatre at Smallhythe Place is hosting commemorative and celebratory events as part of our Women and Power programme.